A tubby suburban dad watching hunting and adventure shows
on TV and wondering could I do that?
This is the chronicle of my adventures as I learn to learn to Forage,
Hunt and Fish for food that has lived as I would wish to myself -
Wild and Free.

Monday, 12 November 2012

Last time I posted one of these Exploriment asked why I hadn't listed the gear I was to use, so here's the kit list for woodland stalking when you're the 'sport' or client. You're not likely to need a Survival Kit in the woodlands of southern England, but a first aid kit is never a bad idea, and if you do actually contact with deer, those latex disposable gloves are a must.

Annoyingly the weather has warmed up a bit in the last couple of days, but so its not really a cold-weather kit or a summer's-morn kit but somewhere in-between.

Boots: While Muckboots are ideal I've hurt my ankle so I've opted for Lundhags Ranger boots as I want a bit more support and, optimistically believe we'll be packing big beast out of the woods.

Gaiters: keep muck and water out of your boot tops. Essential.

Hat: this one has a light in it and came from a bargain supermarket. As well as its camouflaging effect a hat is essential for keeping your rounds together when emptying the rifle. You wouldn't want to drop one from the highseat.

22 comments:

Anonymous
said...

With all that clothing we can assume you don't intend on doing much up hill walking or heavy carcase dragging.....

I'm a great believer in stalking light.

Smocks are no good as they don't allow you enough access for upper body temperature control. I certainly wouldn't be chewing chorizo's either all that garlic..... man any deer within 300m will catch that on an eddy in the wind. Nothing wrong with an old fashioned Mars bar and a couple of hands full of peanuts.

An efficient sound mod and electronic ear plugs are now my choice of hearing saving. Rather than bulky earmuffs. A decent sound mod works for both me and the dog.

I am bored with all this talk of knives and binos. If I need a sharp edge, one of the boys will hone his machete on a rock. If I need to see where I am going, I send a boy in front (not a bad idea anyway, this country is littered with landmines). Run out of malt, however, and no amount of screaming will alter the fact I will remain thirsty.

Do you know the other advantage of britches and gaiters? Apart from gaiters being pretty snake proof and the whole ensemble intimidating natives? With ordinary trousers, loosing them for a bush dump means they invariably fall around your ankles and there is the inherent risk you might give birth to a guardsman into your own trews. And even if your arse can squirt beyond the danger zone, there's still the risk yer trousers, now in the dirt and around yer ankles, will soak up natures last downpour. Britches, however, will only go down as far as the gaiters, bracing the knees and providing a stable platform from which a chap can ease springs while taking a contented swig from his HIP FLASK.

I have yet to find a breathable fabric that actually lets enough moisture out when your don't more than strolling on flat ground. Believe me I have tried. The best I have found is the Nomad jacket.

As for the chorizo's. Try a few simple experiments for yourself, you'll be surprised. Its the with as smoking.

There are electronic ear plugs and then there are electronic ear plugs. None of the cheap ones are worth bothering with. Your better of with foam plugs. I spent a considerable time researching the subject before taking the plunge and order the ones I have now.

I think I know what the glue is for but I'll let you make your post. Don't want to spoil a good blog opportunity.

Interesting, the Nomad jackets have long appealed cant say I've ever thought of them as particularly breathable, they do lack certain features that have shown up lately, if they were to update the design I'd be first in the que for one. My conversation with the owner was cut short by his adamant assertion that the first customisation i asked him about was 'impossible'. Shame.

I'm sure you're right about the leccy ear plugs, I have a pair i got for testing and they seem to work ok, but as yet I've not been through all the the ear bud options so they're not that comfy. A friend had a pair cast to his ears and reports good thingsSBW

HippoThanks for your revealing insight into emergency evacuation procedures in the bush.

I'm sorry you're bored of knives and binos, I wish I was but i cant get enough of them. In further bad news its rucksack design next. I've just put a very very good pack up for sale to finance another pack which initial testing suggests is also very good but ... well that's for another post.

In the urban environ we also send small children ahead to clear the way, many's the time I've used the words "my kids going to be sick" to facilitate swift access to essencial servies and exits. NEVER FAILS.

I may have missed it, but what's the little Maxpedition pouch all about.

I have contemplated something like pants that only go down a bit below the knees. If you're wearing them with gaiters, makes sense. I was looking around on a site over there the other day, clothes for the refined country gentleman, and they referred to them as breeks. Don't know if it's the same thing or not.

Sbw I suppose it all depends on what you define as "breathable". For me its, keeps the rain out and lets the body generated moisture out so that it doesn't collect on the drop lining of the jacket or the outer shell cloth. The two different Nomad jackets I have do that superbly. I have always found the guy who owns Nomad to have his own unique style of customer service. I have always been well satisfied though. 1 off's are always a pain in the ass for any manufacturer. You can never charge the true cost of doing the "customisations". It's usually easier to just say impossible than to have to bother explaining why. You don't loose any money that way, don't have the aggro of having to confirm the alterations with the client and the factory, and don't have the worry that its not quite right when it gets delivered. "impossible" just about covers it IMO.

The problem with the budget/lower end elec earplugs is they rely upon the wrong digital technology because its cheap. You really have to be prepared to spend £500+ in order to get something that actually does more than just plug the ear canal. Good quality ear canal moulds are essential if you are needing to wear them for any length of time.

There have been some very informative discussions on some of the Benchrest and Target shooting forums in recent years regarding the development of elec plugs specifically designed for shooting, rather than having adaptations of plugs designed for general high noise environments.

Err yess, I must have got the wrong end of the stick, when perusing Nomad's terrible website i read

"we also offer a custom made service - please contact us either directly or at a show or exhibition and we will be very happy to accommodate your requirements."

Sadly neither 'very happy' or accommodating were available the afternoon I took them up on their kind offer.

In the interests of fairness i did have a very pleasant chat with a distinguished looking gent who was part of the enterprise, sadly it was cut short before i could place an order by the appearance of Dr No.

Do you know where they buy the fleece and stealth tweed from? Their are so many mods that I'd probably be better starting from scratch.SBW

Have you tried yeti gaiters with your boots/plus 4 combination?Despite a bit of retro naffness (think 90's man), they do the trick here in wet north Wales.Can even get them for less than £20 as surplus these days (fewer tears when you have a 'oh that barbed wire' moment!